Captain Harper
Oct. 11th, 2011 01:17 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ladybug_archiveI think I'm going to have to watch Smoke Signal again before I can determine what I'm going to do about this fic. The entire Cavalry angle, and the time period, now hinges on it. It's an incredible movie, but somewhat draining. While I've watched Two-Gun Lady four times, I've only seen Smoke Signal once.
Throughout most of it, as mentioned before, Captain Harper is bitter and hateful towards the deserter Halliday, who was apparently responsible for a fight between the Cavalry and the Utes that killed six people, including Harper's brother. You certainly can't blame him for his anger. However, not all is as it seems. Halliday left because another Cavalry officer was grossly mistreating the Utes and Halliday was trying to figure out how to make it stop. He insists he was not a deserter. And during the fight, his own Native American wife was killed too. He then wanted to go to the Apaches and see if he could bring a chief who would see that peace was established.
Harper doesn't believe this, nor do the rest of the people with him. When they're forced to work together and escape down the rapids of the Colorado River, there is a great deal of tension among the group.
I said before that I felt Harper was really the main character instead of Halliday. It really did seem that a greater portion of the picture was taken up with Harper's actions than anything else. It was about him and how he dealt with having Halliday around. To a lesser extent, it was about Halliday's true motives and what kind of a person he actually was. As his true colors are revealed, more and more people side with him instead of with Harper.
One interesting and confusing aspect of the film is that you never really see into Harper's thoughts, except near the beginning and then at the end. For the most part, you don't know what's prompting his actions. The men try to decipher him, but they may or may not be reading him right.
The most shocking part of the movie wasn't even mentioned at the TCM website, so I was completely bowled over when it happened. A Sergeant Miles tells Harper of how Halliday saved his life once and says he wants to testify on Halliday's behalf. Harper is not impressed. The next day, Harper sends Miles out on a potentially deadly mission (he says because Miles was the chief scout on a former mission). Everyone is whispering and wondering why Harper chose Miles. And when Miles is killed, the men are almost all thoroughly convinced that Harper deliberately sent him to his death because he was friendly towards Halliday. It certainly looks bad for Harper, whatever the case. William Schallert's character, Private Livingston, is particularly vocal. He says Harper makes him sick and goes on and on about it. Unbeknownst to anyone, Harper is awake and listening. His expression is mostly unreadable, but he looks deep in thought and displeased.
The next morning Harper gathers them all together and tells them they've forgotten that they're a military unit and that risks have to be taken (or something similar; see, I need to watch it again). The implication, although never stated, is that he's telling them he did not deliberately send Miles to his probable death because of any personal feelings.
He does have at least one loyal man, who tells ... either Livingston or the daughter of the deceased former commander that Harper has never made decisions based on his feelings for the six years they've known each other. The other person counters that that was before he caught up with Halliday.
Nothing more is said about the Sergeant Miles incident, nor do we ever really know what Harper's intentions were. The men are correct about his motivations during the events of the end scene, so I wondered a bit if we're always supposed to take their words as the gospel truth, the concise explanations behind Harper's actions. But I decided that likely isn't true. Here's why.
In the ending scene, they're finally coming to civilization and are where they could bring Halliday in. It's what Harper has wanted all along. (Either that or to flat-out kill him himself, as he has threatened to do.) But then, at the critical point, he gives Halliday a thinly-veiled suggestion to go ahead and escape and try to get to the Apache chief. Even though there hasn't been any real indication of it before now, Harper's heart has gradually been softened and he has come to respect Halliday and believe his words.
Halliday jumps out of the boat. Harper instructs the men to shoot after him, but he says it knowing that by this point the men won't aim at Halliday. They deliberately miss him and comment that Harper must have wanted Halliday to get away, but for it to look like an escape rather than that Harper let him go. It's implied that they're right.
But this time Harper confirms it. The girl, who has fallen in love with Halliday, thanks Harper for letting him get away. Harper smiles sincerely and tells her that Halliday will likely be back for her. She says she knows he will be.
The fact that Harper confirms his actions is very different from what happened earlier, concerning the Sergeant Miles disaster. If anything, Harper tried to deny the men's suspicions then. So I'm not sure that the movie intends for us to take the men's words as the gospel truth, the real insight into Harper's mind. If instead Harper himself should be taken as the key, then it looks like we are to understand that he likely did not do anything intentionally wrong with Miles, no matter what his men thought.
All of this combines to make Harper a very dark and intriguing character. I'm wondering a bit if both he and Sephiroth in the same fic will be too much. They both have strict military personalities, wanting to adhere to the rules, and both will bend them slightly under certain instances where they're showing compassion rather than regulation.
Throughout most of it, as mentioned before, Captain Harper is bitter and hateful towards the deserter Halliday, who was apparently responsible for a fight between the Cavalry and the Utes that killed six people, including Harper's brother. You certainly can't blame him for his anger. However, not all is as it seems. Halliday left because another Cavalry officer was grossly mistreating the Utes and Halliday was trying to figure out how to make it stop. He insists he was not a deserter. And during the fight, his own Native American wife was killed too. He then wanted to go to the Apaches and see if he could bring a chief who would see that peace was established.
Harper doesn't believe this, nor do the rest of the people with him. When they're forced to work together and escape down the rapids of the Colorado River, there is a great deal of tension among the group.
I said before that I felt Harper was really the main character instead of Halliday. It really did seem that a greater portion of the picture was taken up with Harper's actions than anything else. It was about him and how he dealt with having Halliday around. To a lesser extent, it was about Halliday's true motives and what kind of a person he actually was. As his true colors are revealed, more and more people side with him instead of with Harper.
One interesting and confusing aspect of the film is that you never really see into Harper's thoughts, except near the beginning and then at the end. For the most part, you don't know what's prompting his actions. The men try to decipher him, but they may or may not be reading him right.
The most shocking part of the movie wasn't even mentioned at the TCM website, so I was completely bowled over when it happened. A Sergeant Miles tells Harper of how Halliday saved his life once and says he wants to testify on Halliday's behalf. Harper is not impressed. The next day, Harper sends Miles out on a potentially deadly mission (he says because Miles was the chief scout on a former mission). Everyone is whispering and wondering why Harper chose Miles. And when Miles is killed, the men are almost all thoroughly convinced that Harper deliberately sent him to his death because he was friendly towards Halliday. It certainly looks bad for Harper, whatever the case. William Schallert's character, Private Livingston, is particularly vocal. He says Harper makes him sick and goes on and on about it. Unbeknownst to anyone, Harper is awake and listening. His expression is mostly unreadable, but he looks deep in thought and displeased.
The next morning Harper gathers them all together and tells them they've forgotten that they're a military unit and that risks have to be taken (or something similar; see, I need to watch it again). The implication, although never stated, is that he's telling them he did not deliberately send Miles to his probable death because of any personal feelings.
He does have at least one loyal man, who tells ... either Livingston or the daughter of the deceased former commander that Harper has never made decisions based on his feelings for the six years they've known each other. The other person counters that that was before he caught up with Halliday.
Nothing more is said about the Sergeant Miles incident, nor do we ever really know what Harper's intentions were. The men are correct about his motivations during the events of the end scene, so I wondered a bit if we're always supposed to take their words as the gospel truth, the concise explanations behind Harper's actions. But I decided that likely isn't true. Here's why.
In the ending scene, they're finally coming to civilization and are where they could bring Halliday in. It's what Harper has wanted all along. (Either that or to flat-out kill him himself, as he has threatened to do.) But then, at the critical point, he gives Halliday a thinly-veiled suggestion to go ahead and escape and try to get to the Apache chief. Even though there hasn't been any real indication of it before now, Harper's heart has gradually been softened and he has come to respect Halliday and believe his words.
Halliday jumps out of the boat. Harper instructs the men to shoot after him, but he says it knowing that by this point the men won't aim at Halliday. They deliberately miss him and comment that Harper must have wanted Halliday to get away, but for it to look like an escape rather than that Harper let him go. It's implied that they're right.
But this time Harper confirms it. The girl, who has fallen in love with Halliday, thanks Harper for letting him get away. Harper smiles sincerely and tells her that Halliday will likely be back for her. She says she knows he will be.
The fact that Harper confirms his actions is very different from what happened earlier, concerning the Sergeant Miles disaster. If anything, Harper tried to deny the men's suspicions then. So I'm not sure that the movie intends for us to take the men's words as the gospel truth, the real insight into Harper's mind. If instead Harper himself should be taken as the key, then it looks like we are to understand that he likely did not do anything intentionally wrong with Miles, no matter what his men thought.
All of this combines to make Harper a very dark and intriguing character. I'm wondering a bit if both he and Sephiroth in the same fic will be too much. They both have strict military personalities, wanting to adhere to the rules, and both will bend them slightly under certain instances where they're showing compassion rather than regulation.
